Quotes by Jonathan Carroll

A short story is a sprint, a novel is a marathon. Sprinters have seconds to get from here to there and then they are finished. Marathoners have to carefully pace themselves so that they dont run out of energy (or in the case of the novelist-- ideas) because they have so far to run. To mix the metaphor, writing a short story is like having a short intense affair, whereas writing a novel is like a long rich marriage.

She was 3/4 perfection and 1/4 broken glass.

Only the guilty and the lovers really fear. The first because of what they are, the second for what they might lose.

Dogs are minor angels, and I dont mean that facetiously. They love unconditionally, forgive immediately, are the truest of friends, willing to do anything that makes us happy, etcetera. If we attributed some of those qualities to a person we would say they are special. If they had ALL of them, we would call them angelic. But because its only a dog, we dismiss them as sweet or funny but little more. However when you think about it, what are the things that we most like in another human being? Many times those qualities are seen in our dogs every single day-- were just so used to them that we pay no attention.

Real love is always chaotic. You lose control; you lose perspective. You lose the ability to protect yourself. The greater the love, the greater the chaos. It’s a given and that’s the secret.

Reading a book, for me at least, is like traveling in someone elses world. If its a good book, then you feel comfortable and yet anxious to see whats going to happen to you there, whatll be around the next corner. But if its a lousy book, then its like going through Secaucus, New Jersey -- it smells and you wish you werent there, but since youve started the trip, you roll up the windows and breathe through your mouth until youre done.

Both young children and old people have a lot of time on their hands. Thats probably why they get along so well.

Women are always complaining about mens fascination with breasts. But what if men were absolutely indifferent to breasts? What would women do then with these things that serve one function once or twice in a lifetime, and the rest of the time are just in the way?

The Viennese wash everything. Where else in the world does the government hire public servants to wash public telephone booths and the glass over traffic lights? Every time I see someone doing these things, I smile like a child.

Even the handsomest men do not have the same momentary effect on the world as a truly beautiful woman does.

“If you are a success in life, there are places you must go and pay to be humiliated. It is an unwritten law that human beings must be tormented throughout their lives in one way or another. If you are fortunate enough to have risen to a social level where no one does it to you for free, then you must pay for the service. ”

“Time talks behind our back. To our face its friendly and logical, never hesitating to give more of itself. But when were not looking, it steals our lives and says bad things about us to the parts of us its stolen”